


New Roads

by Merfilly



Category: Fast and the Furious (2001)
Genre: Alternate Ending, Gen, Yuletide, Yuletide 2012
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-12-22
Updated: 2012-12-22
Packaged: 2017-11-22 01:40:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,120
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/604412
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Merfilly/pseuds/Merfilly
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After the Charger is wrecked, Brian makes a different decision.</p>
            </blockquote>





	New Roads

**Author's Note:**

  * For [](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts).



"I can't take your keys, Brian," Dom said, and Brian felt his heart clinch. This man, who was like a brother to him, had led a life that couldn't fit inside society without breaking the laws. Denied the chance to ever prove himself in the legitimate daredevil scene of track racing, Dominic Toretto had turned to the only kind of life that fit him. 

The sirens getting closer told Brian that life was all about to come to a crashing end, and the thought of Dom behind bars again made his stomach turn to ice.

"Then get in the other fucking side, and I'll drive," Brian told him fiercely.

"Can't let you take me in."

"Who said any fucking thing about taking you in? Get in the damn car, Dom!" Brian shouted, knowing they didn't have much time. "If you won't do it for yourself, at least do it for Mia!"

That snapped something in Dom's will to resist what Brian meant to do, changed the whole game plan. Mia was enough reason to let Brian throw away his life, enough reason to run for freedom south of the border.

"Better not drive like a buster this time," Dom managed to toss out as his only sharp comeback past the pain he was in.

"Not out to impress you this time," Brian snapped back, as they both hurried to get into the Supra and away from the wreck of the Charger.

"That's what that was back in your first race against me? Man, you really sucked then." Dom settled as Brian floored it, heading south as fast as he could. This was going to be dodgy, but once they got down there, they could figure out their next move.

* * *

The drive was too quiet. Even given that Brian had helped chase down Jesse's killers, that Brian had been the one to actually kill Johnny Tran, Dom still was wrestling with just who Brian really was. The idea of a cop getting into his family, his group, trying to bust his operation still had his nerves on edge. Brian had outright lied to him, even, which made Dom see red over the whole affair. Brian had even dragged Mia more fully into the middle of things than she ever had been before, and that rubbed Dom wrong in bad ways.

Brian had also risked his life to save Vince's. When it was Vince's life on the line, Brian had used his weight as a cop to get Vince to a hospital. And Brian had come to the house, looking for Jesse. The drive had made that a focal point in Dom's head, letting him replay the whole scene in front of the house and look at it for clues as to why Brian had just thrown away his entire life to protect Dom.

"Took you awhile to get back to me," Dom finally said, the rough road they were on making it impossible to ignore his arm or ribs enough to rest, so he might as well talk. "Why?"

"Couldn't let them backtrack you off those cars," Brian answered after a moment. "Took time to clean the scene."

That was not the answer Dom had expected, and he had to consider which direction to turn on, find the right road to get him what he really needed to know.

"Why?"

The single word was loaded with too many nuances, but Dom couldn't care. He had to get this hammered out before they got too far.

Brian looked over at him, serious and frowning. "I never thought it was you. Thought you'd all paid a hell of a lot already, and my screw up on Tran... it made things worse. So I did it. That driver's going to ice up, not say a damn word, because he was taking the law in his own hands. His union will lawyer him out of the hot water, but they'll all be gunning for your crew, if they can ever figure it out for sure. Without him to witness, without the cars giving up anything... Vince will walk. Maybe get a charge or two, but they can't prove shit. This way... he's clear, Letty should be, Leon will be."

"And you came to the house..."

"To find Jesse. To try and cover his back, get him out of what he'd gotten into." Brian looked back at the road. "I was hoping to convince you to go lay low."

"And Johnny got there first," Dom all but growled, still seeing Jesse falling, so much blood... but he wasn't dead. Not in Dom's mind. Until he found a way to check in with Mia, he didn't have to think that Jesse was dead at all.

"Yeah."

"Hell of a thing for a cop to do." Dom watched Brian, saw his profile tighten even harder into that frown.

"It's what family does," Brian finally answered that stinging remark.

Maybe, just maybe, Dom could learn to forgive the buster who'd lied to him.

* * *

"What now?"

They'd been in this squalid little dust bowl of a town for nearly a week. It had been long enough to know that Brian had been 'taken hostage' by the now wanted Dominic Toretto, though the press up in the States weren't saying more than 'wanted for questioning'. Brian figured if they laid low long enough, it would blow over, but Dom had that edgy look as he asked the question.

"You tell me, man. You're the one with the contacts."

Dom cracked open a beer, swigging half of it down after dropping into a chair. He looked at the bottle then over at Brian. "I say we go somewhere that the beer doesn't taste like piss in a bottle."

"And then?" Brian reached for a beer of his own, even though he agreed. The beer was just better than the water in this flea trap of a motel.

"Quarter mile at a time, Bri."

Dom's eyes closed as he rocked back in the chair, tilting it so his head was against the wall. Brian watched him for a long moment before he finally just laughed, making Dom look back at him.

"Hell of a way to live," Brian told him, grin spreading across his face. He felt like he was going to enjoy the hell out of it, too.

"Ever watch _Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid_?" Dom asked him, tone rising with more warmth. Brian realized Dom had finally made up his mind about the cop that had saved him.

"Yeah?"

"Like that, but less bullets in the end." Dom smiled, and that made Brian nod.

"We can do that." 

Together, watching each other's backs, they just might find their real place.


End file.
